Across South Carolina

WATEREE -A worker painting the U.S. Highway 601 bridge over the Congaree River has died after the scaffolding he was standing on collapsed, authorities said.

Divers located the body of Jason Kinsey on Wednesday evening. He was still trapped in the scaffolding, and Natural Resources Department workers had to wait until Thursday morning to get the equipment needed to free his body, diver Anthony Walker said.

An autopsy showed that Mr. Kinsey, 21, of Cordova, died from trauma, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Thursday.

Official blasts county for fight over holiday

GREENVILLE -The new leader of the state Commerce Department says the fight over whether or not Greenville County should officially celebrate a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. is bad for business.

"Why give yourself more challenges to making deals than you have?" Commerce Secretary Bob Faith said.

On Tuesday, more than 500 supporters of the holiday clashed with a few dozen others carrying Confederate flags and signs calling NAACP leaders "terrorists" at a county council meeting.

Senate investigators find agency at fault

COLUMBIA -Juvenile Justice Department officials failed to follow procedures when they provided documents to a group that wants to build a $47 million youth home in Fairfield County, Senate investigators say.

Rosewood Youth Development Academy wants to build the home and used a letter from the Juvenile Justice Department to help it obtain a $437,000 loan of federal money through the city of Columbia to start the project, The (Columbia) State reported.

Board allows students to carry cell phones

FORT MILL -Fort Mill students, like a growing number of South Carolina public school children, will be able to carry cellular phones.

The Fort Mill school board gave unanimous approval this week allowing students to carry phones to school. There had been a statewide ban on students having the phones at school for 10 years, but lawmakers decided last spring to give local districts jurisdiction over use.

Students can keep cell phones with them, but the phones must be turned off during the school day. If students are caught using the phones, the devices will be confiscated.